Amid the bookshelves in the small, refurbished library, an overflowing crowd gathered Saturday to commemorate the community heroes of Acres Homes and beyond.

This year’s 6th annual Shepard-Acres Homes Legends essay contest received a record number of submissions — over 100 from students ranging from pre-K to high school seniors. The contestants were allowed to pick people they admired outside of community members, but many picked people who have made an impact in their hometown, including Beulah Shepard, the library’s namesake.

“We were trying to help the kids at school learn about the importance of writing,” said Diane Shepard, daughter of former political activist, Beulah Shepard. “They (wrote essays) on their pastors, they did some on Slim Thug, Carmelo Anthony, people from the neighborhood.”

Second grader Magan Winston, 8, began her essay at the beginning of February. She chose to focus on Beulah Shepard because her mother, Charlesley Watt, 41, had worked with her on a few occasions.

“My essay was about when she was born, where she moved, and how she helped people, like (Mayor) Sylvester Turner,” said Winston. “She helped people vote also.”

Winston wrote a letter inviting former First Lady Michelle Obama, who was in Houston Saturday for a book signing, to the library ceremony. The Obama family sent Shepard a letter wishing every contestant luck in the competition.

After Winston received her framed letter, Mayor Sylvester Turner, an Acres Homes native, was introduced as the guest speaker. He reminisced on his time with Shepard, saying she was the one who pushed him to be a politician.

“I told her I wasn’t interested and before she asked me she was telling people Sylvester is running, and she never asked me,” said Turner, a former state representative. “I ran into some people who wished me well and I had no clue what they were talking about until I ran into Mrs. Shepard.”

The Friends of Beulah Shepard Legacy hopes their foundation will be in a position to offer scholarships to students by 2021. They also want to expand it to students outside of the neighborhood.

“We basically wanted to just keep this history because there’s so much, and history is important,” she said.